According to Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Executive Director at the Reserve Bank of India, the recently released in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-rupi, is currently being tested for offline functionality.
The wholesale segment pilot for the digital rupee was introduced by the RBI, the central bank and regulatory body of India, on November 1, 2022, with the onboarding of 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants for in-the-field testing. By February 25, wholesale CBDCs had finished 800,000 transactions totaling about $134 million (1,100 crore rupees).
On top of this development, RBI’s Choudhary stated that the RBI is investigating the CBDC’s offline capability. He told CNBC-TV18 that RBI is assessing CBDC’s prospects for international trade and integration with other nations’ legacy systems. And he said:
“We are anxiously anticipating private sector and fintechs’ support in CBDC. We will see their commitment, particularly on offline and cross-border CBDC transactions.”
Choudhary said CBDC requires all the characteristics of physical money, including anonymity. Because it will soon serve as a medium of exchange.
To promote the digital economy and increase financial participation in the area, India established CBDC. CBDC will ultimately replace cryptocurrencies, according to Choudhary, speaking to CNBC-TV18.
Singapore was added to the unified payments interface (UPI), India’s national banking network, on February 21.
Singaporean and Indian citizens can send money rapidly across borders thanks to the integration of UPI and PayNow.
Outgoing remittances will initially be facilitated by four main Indian banks: State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, and ICICI Bank. Incoming payments will be made easier by DBS Bank India and Axis Bank. Users in the area will receive service from Singapore’s DBS Bank and Liquid Group.
